The 150th Hunger Games: 23 Less Boys
by TroyDeslatte
Summary: It's the sixth Quarter Quell and you will be watching. Well, you'll actually be reading. But you get the idea! Review if you want more!
1. The Announcement

The Capitol roars with excitement as the President makes his way to his podium. He lets the crowd scream and shout and chant his name. After about three minutes of the loud noises the man at the podium raises his hand and the Capitol falls silent. The President lowers his hand back on the podium and smiles.

"Greetings. Now, as you all know this is going to be the sixth Quarter Quell." President York says. The Capitol screams, some waving their hands in the air. Flashes of cameras appear all over the audience. The President looks to his right and nods. In response, a young boy enters the stage holding a brown wooden box. President York takes it and the boy leaves the scene. The man at the podium looks at the audience.

"As you all know, this is the brown box that contains this years change to the games. And now, people of the Capitol, it is time to open the box. Are you ready?" The crowd roars. Then President York opens the top of the box and pulls out a white card. he sets the box aside and opens his mouth to read.

"In the 150th Annual Quarter Quell, only the male citizens of Panem will be entering the arena."

…...


	2. The Reaping of District 7

I stand in line, waiting to be signed in. I look around at all of the other boys who were all either standing in line or already with their age group in front of the Justice Building. After standing for what seemed an eternity it was finally time for me to be signed in. I give the Peacekeeper my finger and she puts and needle in and puts my finger on a book, smearing blood in a small square. The Peacekeeper then scans the blood with a white machine. It beeps and the Peacekeeper tells me to go ahead. I walk to my age group in silence. I stand in a marked of area for fourteen year olds and look ahead at the lonely microphone on the stage. A few minutes after I had been standing here I feel a tap on my right shoulder. I turn to see his best friend, Rof.

"You nervous?" Rof asks.

"Not really. Just hope that nobody we know gets up there," I answer.

"Yeah. If I get picked, I'm using a spear in the arena," Rof says, "What'd you use?" I think for a moment and open my mouth to answer but then everyone falls silent. I turn around to see a person wearing all blue. He can tell that she is a woman by her blue high-heels and crazy long eyelashes.

"Hello District 7. Happy Hunger Games!" Lotha Triff says happily. As if watching your fellow friends fight to the death on live television is happy. "And, may the odds be ever in your favor. This year is a very special kind of Hunger Games, it's the Quarter Quell! We would normally have a video brought all the way from the Capitol but this year President York has asked us to just get the tributes to the Capitol as fast as possible. Now is time to choose the courageous men who will be in this year's Games."

A Peacekeep comes to the stage and sets a glass bowl filled with white papers with names on them in front of her on a small stand. Lotha reaches in front of her and into the bowl. She stirs the names around and then takes one. She brings her hand back in front of her and opens the neatly folded paper. She takes in a breath.

"Jolth Horvath."

Suddenly all heads turn to the eighteen year olds section. I can only see a blond haired head moving through the crowd and onto the stage. Once he's on stage I can get a good view of him. He has long blond hair and muscular arms from cutting trees. His shirt is slightly ripped but looks good as new. His shoes are muddy and his pants are muddy by his feet.

"How old are you?" Lotha asks him.

"Eighteen," he answers. Lotha turn back toward the crowd.

"Any volunteers?" No one answers. "Alright then, let's pick the next male tribute." She puts he hand back in the bowl and picks out a name. She opens the piece of paper and reads.

"Roffian Luth."

I turn to look at my best friend and I see him shocked. People start stepping out of the way to let him go to the stage.

_I'm sorry Roff,_ I think.

I watch as he makes his way to the stage and stands by Lotha. She asks what is age is and he answers. Then she asks for volunteers. I consider but realize that I'll die the second I step off of the metal circle. They shake hands and go into the Justice Building.


	3. Good-byes

The doors close to the building and I stand, staring at the closed door. Roff, my best friend since as long as I can remember was put into the Hunger Games to fight to the death. Why didn't I Volunteer? I know I would die in either the bloodbath or pretty soon after. How would Roff stand a chance against all of the other tributes? The Careers would probably kill him as soon as the Games begin. Suddenly, the sound of tapping on a microphone brings me back to reality.

"If anyone would like to say good-bye to the tributes, please come on stage now," Lotha says. I don't hesitate. I walk the path Roff took up to the stage. His family walks behind me and the other tribute's family walk up behind them. We get onto the stage and Peacekeepers take me by the arms. They open to doors to the Justice Building and force me inside.

It's a small lobby. A small wooden desk is up against the wall with a empty chair behind it. Two leather chairs are located on either side of me, neither of them are being sat in. The floor is made of polished wood the shines from the lights above us on the cement ceiling. It's nothing special, just a building that leads young adults to their deaths. I am guided to the left and am told to sit in a chair by a deep voiced Peacekeeper.

"Sit here," he says, "It's custom for families to see the tributes first." I sit in the chair, dust bursting into the air from the weight. I cough.

"Okay," I respond and cough some more. Roff's family passes by me. His very tall father in the lead, his pregnant mother behind him, and Roff's older sister (who is very beautiful by the way) follows behind her. Her name is Roda and she is in the process of crying. I wish I could reach out to her and give her a hug but I resist.

_Let her have a moment with her brother,_ I think, _I might be her last._

They all walk into a room, Roff's mother running in to hug her son. Then the Peacekeeper closes the door behind them. I hear crying come from the room and lots of "I love you". After about one minute the Peacekeeper opens the door and tells them their time is up. The make their last hugs and then are escorted out of the room. They leave the building with Roff's mother crying into his father's shoulder. The Peacekeeper puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Now it's your turn."

I stand and go into the room. Roff wipes tears from his cheek and smiles. Normally we just have our handshake that me made up in the woods trimming trees with our dad's but this time we hugged. He pushed away from me and sighed.

"Take care of Roda for me, will you?" he laughs weakly.

"Okay. You'll win right?" I say. He sighs.

"I told me family I will," Roff respond, "but truthfully, I don't think I can. I'm as skilled with an ax as you are."

"You said you would use a spear only just fifteen minutes," I say.

"I was just joking. I had no idea I would actually end up in a fight to the death." He sits in an identical chair I had been sitting in. Suddenly the door bursts open and the Peacekeeper says my time is up.

"Good luck," I say.

"Thanks. See you a T.V."

I walk out of the room and leave the Justice Building. I walk off the stage and down the main square. I turn left onto the road with all of the shops. I pass the candy shop which is about as big as my family room. I pass the bakery where I can smell fresh bread coming out of the oven. I pass a few more stores until I reach my father's firewood store. I lift the welcome mat up and find the house key. I put it in keyhole in the door and turn it. The lock clicks and I put the key back under the mat. I open the door and walk into the entrance of the firewood shop. Logs are everywhere and a fire burns in the fireplace. Behind the main desk where people come and buy wood are a flight of stairs that lead up to the top of the shop, which is where my family and I live. I go behind the desk and go upstairs, my feet thumping each step I take. I get to the top and my Mom comes out of room.

"Sylar–," she starts but I go into my room and slam the door shut.

This is completely unfair. Why does the Capitol have to take Roff? He was the person I always hung out with and we always were partners in school projects and we always helped each other out in the woods. I'm so mad I punch the wooden wall and make a dent. I sit on my bed and throw my pillow across the room. It hits the wall and falls to the ground. I flop onto my bed and start crying.

"Why?" I whisper, "Why do you have to take him?" I will never forgive those people. I will never forgive the Capitol.

Never.


End file.
